Argentina has developed the HB4 transgenic soybean variety, which incorporates a sunflower gene to increase tolerance to drought and salinity, aiming to sustain higher yields under water stress conditions. This event, technically identified as soybean IND-00410-5, produces a protein that delays plant senescence and allows it to continue growing even when water is scarce, while also improving water use efficiency and reinforcing defense mechanisms. The HB4 technology was developed through a public-private partnership between Bioceres Crop Solutions and the Litoral Institute of Agrobiotechnology of UNL and CONICET, led by researcher Raquel Chan, as reported by the Argentine News Agency. Soybean was the first crop to commercially incorporate this technology, which was later extended to HB4 wheat, also designed to tolerate drought and support yields in campaigns with below-normal rainfall. The HB4 variety has been approved for planting and consumption in Argentina since 2015, and subsequently received regulatory approvals in Brazil, the United States, Paraguay, Canada, and China, the latter for consumption and import, opening key markets for the oilseed. In parallel, Bioceres is promoting programs such as 'Generation HB4,' which works with identity-preserved schemes and agreements with producers to ensure traceability in soybean and wheat incorporating this technology, as confirmed by the Argentine News Agency. Trials conducted by CONICET, UNL, and the company itself show that in drought scenarios, HB4 soybean shows a smaller yield drop and greater productive stability than conventional varieties subjected to similar water shortage conditions. In contrast, under normal water conditions, HB4 soybean behaves similarly to traditional soybean in terms of composition and industrial processing, so it does not require differentiated processes in the oil industry or in the production of by-products. Despite technological advances, HB4 soybean is at the center of an intense debate over its potential environmental impacts, dependence on technology packages, and associated herbicide use, discussions that deepened with the case of HB4 wheat intended for direct human consumption. Various socio-environmental organizations question its presentation as a 'drought solution' and warn about the model of industrial agriculture and the use of glufosinate ammonium linked to the HB4 platform, while developers highlight that the goal is to stabilize yields in the face of extreme weather events. Internationally, the European Union has not yet approved HB4 soybean for its entry into the community market, so event IND-00410-5 is not on the list of organisms authorized for commercialization in that bloc. This lack of approval has raised alarms in Argentine foreign trade, as any presence of HB4 soybean grains in shipments heading to the European Union could lead to ship rejections, buyer complaints, and potential trade conflicts. For this reason, exporters and grain handlers have been demanding that controls be strengthened and strict identity-preserved and traceability schemes be maintained to prevent HB4 soybean batches from being mixed with loads destined for the European Union. Chambers like CIARA-CEC and major traders have been holding meetings with producers and handlers to insist on the need to take extreme care in the handling, conditioning, and storage of soybean that incorporates the HB4 technology. In these contacts, sector representatives clarified that there are no records of shipments actually detected with HB4 soybean in European ports and that, for now, it is a preventive measure to avoid a potential trade conflict. Likewise, entities in the soybean complex denied versions about supposed Argentine ships observed in Europe for containing HB4 soybean and emphasized that if such a finding were to occur, it could affect the country's reputation as a reliable supplier. The focus of the exporting sector is on ensuring that while the European Union does not specifically evaluate and approve the HB4 event, loads destined for that market remain free of this transgenic variety to not jeopardize future sales.
